WILSON, ARNOLD

(1884-1940)

   Arnold Wilson was one of a number of important political officers of Great Britain stationed in Iraq after World War I who helped determine the policies that eventually led to the Kurds of the Mosul vilayet being incorporated into Iraq. He based his policies on the belief that, given Britain's financial difficulties, Mesopotamia could be most economically defended from the Kurdish foothills. Following the failure to implement indirect British control through a pliant Sheikh Mahmud of Barzinji, Sir Percy Cox replaced Wilson in October 1920. Wilson wrote Mesopotamia, 1917-1920: A Clash of Loyalties, 1931.